


War Horse

by JoAsakura



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Centaur, Damphir, M/M, Omnic Crisis Era, Parachuting Horses, SEP, Supernatural Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 21:43:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15010052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoAsakura/pseuds/JoAsakura
Summary: Second-generation damphir Gabriel Reyes, feels like a rockstar when he's directly approached for the military's Supernatural Enhancement Program.That is, until he meets his roommate, a hayburning son of a bitch from Indiana.





	War Horse

Gabriel set his duffel bag down and flopped on the narrow cot, letting the Introduction Folder fall to the floor. 

The Supernatural Enhancement Program- which, if he were being honest, sounded more like an erectile dysfunction drug than a way to make supernaturally-born soldiers even MORE so- had come to his unit and asked for him specifically. 

Gabriel Reyes had felt like a rockstar until he’d shown up at Fort Nowhere and met the ninety-nine others. It was a cross section of the supernatural/military community- werewolves, selkies, half-elves and witches. There were even a few big guns- a dragon the size of a prop plane wearing air force colors, an orca mer from the navy, tail twitching in her transport tank.

And then there was the one oversized hayburner centaur with an Army ranger tattoo on his flank who’d been next to him at orientation. Gabriel had never been a fan of horses, let alone horses with human parts, but the thought of the man beside him parachuting out of a plane had left him mildly hysterical, until those blue eyes had caught him and rolled dramatically.

With a grunt, and feeling sheepish at the memory, Gabriel pushed himself up to look at his phone. There were fourteen messages from his mother, insisting she was going to have Uncle Jorge “hack the internets” to find the base so she could send him blood cakes, despite the fact that vampires and dhamphir like himself had been part of the military since the revolution and it wasn’t like they were going to starve.

(More like the experimental treatments that made baseline humans drop dead or go mad might kill them too) he thought with a snort. With that, he took a moment to look around the room as he unpacked his new gear. There was no other cot, but rather a large, padded… Gabriel froze, hands clenching on the grey shirt marked “24” in his hands.

 _There was a stall._  

He turned around at the sharp clip of hooves on the tiled floor and felt his face jerk into a terrible combination of a scowl and a forced grin.

The centaur was standing there in a shirt marked “76” and he rolled his bright blue eyes again. “ok. Get the parachuting horse jokes out of your system.” He grunted, clopping past Gabriel to set his own gear down. “What? Didn’t you read your packet? It’s got our roommate assignments in them.” He wagged the folder at Gabriel.

“I was getting to that.” Gabriel sniffed. “I just didn’t think the army had centaur paratroopers,” he added weakly, grabbing his folder. (Sgt. Jack Morrison, Airborne). A palamino and white paint cob with a tail as golden as his coarse crop of hair.

“And I didn’t think vampires could run around durin’ the day without turning into a briquette but ya learn something new every day.” Jack drawled, padding across a carpeted area into their little common room.

“ _Damphir_. My grandmother on my father’s side was a vampire.” Gabriel drew himself up. Growing up, his father had had a reputation as the one who people went to to break curses or kill malevolent spirits, but he’d heard them talk about them behind their backs- with their wild dark hair, and their lack of shadows. The powers- to shift into a black, oily fog, to see the dead and steal the souls of the living- hadn’t really endeared him to his classmates.

The first thing he’d done, even before joining the marines, had been to shave his hair. 

“At least ya ain’t a chupacabra.” Jack chuckled, and settled himself on some cushions that passed for a centaur’s couch.

“Is that supposed to be funny, Seabiscuit?” Gabriel felt his fangs perk a little bit. “A little dig?”

“Like a parachutin’ horse kinda funny?” Jack tilted an eyebrow at him, then sighed. “Sorry. Just, the Vasquez farm down the way from  ours raised ‘em, you know, to keep the deer an’ the fae off their crops. They’re not that bright, though, an’ one of them thought _I_ was a deer when I was twelve.” Jack laughed, pointing to the ringed scar on his equine back. 

Gabriel wheezed a laugh and plopped down on the couch. “Jesus, one of my cousins wanted to be all tough and got one. I had to chase it down the street one day because it decided to try and steal my mother’s cat. Everybody on the street was like “look, one bloodsucker chasing another!” I fucking hate those things.”

“Ok fair enough. I won’t make another chupacabra joke you goat suckin’ devil dog.” Jack said with a grin.

 “Fuck you, you hayburning dope on a rope.”  Gabriel replied pleasantly, then looked over at the sunlight gleaming on Jack’s gilded flanks. He’d never been much for horses, but it was…

 He coughed suddenly. “You’re not wearing any pants.”

 “Oh my GOD.” Jack’s tail swished dramatically. “Are you gonna complain Lieutenant Mata’afa ain’t wearin’ a skirt over her orca bits?”

“I just.” Gabriel fought the urge to ooze himself into a black puddle and sink under the couch.

“Oh, wait. You think I’m hot? Gotta tell you man. Once you go horse, it’s a matter of course.” Jack teased, flashing him a set of finger guns.

“I hate you so much.”

_Months Later:_

Jack ratcheted his pulse rifle into active status, and reached behind, checking the number of biotic field generators left on his back harness. “It’s a mile and a half, to the omnium entrance.”  He muttered, tapping his visor with his free hand.

 Gabriel ran a hand against Jack’s flank, watching the nervous step of his partner’s hooves. “They’ve managed to shut down the vehicle Vis. Looks like we’re on foot from here.” He reholstered his shotguns and tapped his comms with a frown. “Comms are down too.”

“I can clear that in under a minute.” Jack said after a moment. “Less if you help me get some of this body armour off.”

“Jack?” 

“I’m gonna need the freedom if I’m gonna carry your ass over that way so you can ghost yourself in.”

“You’ll be a big dumb blonde target, Mister Ed.” Gabriel tugged on Jack’s vest to pull his face down to meet his. 

“Well then, you better work fast so I don’t get shot too bad.” Jack grinned dragging his hand through Gabriel’s wild black hair. “Lestat.”

“I hate you.” Gabriel said, kissing him hard.

“I love you too,” Jack grinned against Gabriel’s lips.


End file.
